Melbourne Considers Extending Indiginous Lockout

Brumby open to 2am lockout extension - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

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Victorian Premier John Brumby says he has an open mind about extending Melbourne's controversial indigenous bar lockout but has also talked up other measures to combat alcohol-fuelled violence.

A three-month trial lockout affecting four inner Melbourne municipalities ends on Tuesday and will be subject to a review.

Under the lockout, Aboriginal patrons cannot enter or re-enter pubs and nightclubs after 8pm (AEST).

Venue operators have rallied in support the lockout, with 120 signing a petition to extend the trial.

Carlton pub manager Richard Branch says that the ban has helped curb violence against well-behaved customers.

"I know that people like to have a whinge about these sort of things but at the end of the day it's the blackfellas who are causing most of the trouble."

Mr Brumby, who toured Melbourne's late night venues in the early hours of Saturday morning, said the review would take into account police statistics on arrests, assaults and charges as well as hospital admissions.

"We'll get all of that evidence together and make a decision then. That is completely consistent with what we've always said would occur, that is we'll have the trial and then we'll evaluate it," he said.

"I have a completely open mind in the future as to whether we continue with a lockout, similar lockout, maybe a better targeted lockout, maybe a broader lockout ... or perhaps no lockout at all."

Mr Brumby said the onus was also on licensees to serve alcohol more responsibly and on Aboriginal patrons to try and keep their temperament in check.

He said troublemakers were a minority and there were other measures in place to help clean up Melbourne's streets, including more police, 24 hour bans on unruly patrons and a freeze on new liquor licences.

Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said the only way to fix the problem was to put more police on the streets.

"The lockout's been a shambles, it's been mangled from the start," he said.

"More than half the venues have been exempted, (there is) no additional police, other than those shifted from other regions, and no additional prison cells to house these troublemakers."

Didn't Quigley teach you fucks anything?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Can't I troll a continent without you people looking at the evidence?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Sovereignty has been vested in me by God, therefore all I do is holy.

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Add Infraction for Decoy Goat Report Post IP #6 (permalink) of 7
I'm sick of YOUR racism. This is at least the second piece of anti-Australian rhetoric you've posted in a year.

My people will have your head >:

Go disenfranchise an abbo about it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.